The People’s Health Clinic has a mission to provide no-cost healthcare to uninsured people in Summit and Wasatch counties.
Now in its 22nd year, the clinic has grown from a mobile van to its current offices near the Park City Hospital at Quinn’s Junction. The clinic will begin another chapter this June, when it gets a new Chief Medical Officer. The clinic recently announced Dr. Yoon Kim-Butterfield as its CMO, with her first day on the job June 13th.
Beth Armstrong stepped down as Executive Director in January and the clinic’s board chose current Medical Director Dr. Mairi Leining to fill the role last month.
Leining said transitioning to a more administrative position from her previous hands-on role will be a challenge, but she said she sees a bright future for the clinic going forward.
“It is a shift for me, but what I see is just tremendous potential in our clinic and the importance that it serves in our community," Leining said. "I feel as the executive director, I’m going to be able to expand the programming that I’ve started to develop already, and also really work on networking and community impact with the other incredible nonprofit organizations in our town.”
Leining was named Medical Director at People’s Health Clinic in April 2021 and previously served as ICU Medical Director at the Park City Hospital and was a People’s Health Clinic volunteer.
Kim-Butterfield comes to the clinic from the University of Utah, where she works to provide healthcare to the state’s refugee population.
Originally from Chicago, Kim-Butterfield practiced in the San Francisco area for 12 years and helped administer correctional health services at San Quentin State Prison prior to coming to Utah.
She said the opportunity to provide healthcare to the region’s uninsured workers was what made the job at People’s Health Clinic appealing.
“I think that the role that People’s Health Clinic plays is incredibly special and unique," she said. "I think that the clinic itself just serves this special group of people that we don’t quite have the same number of in Salt Lake, just because we don’t do quite as much of the hospitality industry and things like that that Park City does.”
Only uninsured people living in Summit or Wasatch County are eligible to receive care at People’s Health Clinic. Leining said although it might not be obvious in a town known for multi-million dollar houses and a vibrant resort culture, many of the employees that make the Park City economy run are often living in poverty and have a serious need for healthcare services.
“There’s this kind of myth that we take care of the ski bum of Park City, and that doesn’t really exist so much anymore," said Leining. "We really have a dichotomy in the population from an incredibly wealthy influx of people from the coasts while we’re supported by this working poor population, many of whom are from Mexico and Central America.”
More information on People’s Health Clinic and its services can be found here.
